Bacon slicing machine



9 1934- A. H. AHRNDT BACON SLICING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 6, 1930 6 Sheets-Sheet i a I \ll r, I ISMJ.

Oct 1934- A. H. AHRNDT BACON SLICING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 6,1930

6 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 16, 1934. A. H. AHRNDT I I BACON SLICING MACHINE 6 SheetsSheet 3 Original Filed Jan. 6, 1930 jnvezz 07":

0mm HM 65 m. TNT WK Oct. 16, 1934. A. H. AHRNDT BACON SLICING MACHINE Original Filed Jnlfi, 1950 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 japan/2 07': m Ham,

Oct. 16, 1934. -A, H. AHRNDT BACON SLICING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 6, 1950 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 17206 77257 Mani/M,

&04

Oct. 16, 1934. A. H. AHRNDT BACON 'SLICING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 6, 1950 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Patented Oct. 16, 1934 UNITED STATES BACON sucme MACHINE Application January 6, 1930, Serial No. 418,835 Renewed November 4, 1933 3 Claims. (01. 146-401) The present invention relates to slicing machines and has for one of its objects the provision of a machine which will enable slabs of bacon or like substances to be sliced with greater rapidity than has been possible with machines constructed according to the teachings of the prior art. In

general, the machine is of the type shown in my co-pending application Serial No. 332,790, filed January 16, 1929, and an application of William Mahler, Serial No. 332,525, filed January 14,

1929. This machine differs, however, from the machines disclosed in said co-pending applications in the type of feeding means used to feed the work towards the slicing knife.

Another object of this invention is the provision of an endless conveyer which is adapted to move continuously in one direction only so as not to make it necessary to reverse the movement of the conveyer in order to place successive slabs of 2.", bacon or like substances thereon.

Another object of the invention is the provision of means for intermittently moving the substance to be sliced towards the slicing knife so that successive slices can be out therefrom. Preferably, this intermittent feeding movement occurs while the slicing knife is out of the position in which it performs its slicing operation as, obviously, the best results would not be obtained by feeding the substance during the time the substance is being sliced. 1

Still another object of this invention is the provision of means for holding the substance down on the conveyer as the substance moves towards the slicing knife and also the provision of means on the conveyer for engaging and moving the substance towards the slicing knife. This latter means comprises a series of slats overlapping each other and connected to the opposed runs of two parallel endless chains each of which is adapted to be supported on a pair of sprocket wheels rotatably mounted on suitable shafts on the frame of the machine. One of the sprockets of each chain is positively driven by an intermittent driving device.

A still further object of this invention is the provision of means for rotating the knife about its own axis and also about an axis eccentric to its own axis.

Referring now to the drawings:-

Fig. 1 represents a front elevation, partly in section, of a machine embodying my invention with a part of the conveyer chain which conveys the slices away from the knife. removed;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the device shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary end view of the machine looking from the right in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a section taken substantially on th line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a vertical cross-section of the clutch mechanism which is adapted to disconnect the drive to the conveyer which conveys the substance toward the slicing knife;

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of the mechanism for imparting the intermittent feeding movement to the conveyer;

Figs. 7 and 8 are fragmentary views, partly in section, showing some of the details of the conveyer mechanism;

Fig. 9 shows a modified form of conveyer and bridge plate; and

Fig. 10 shows a plan View of the device shown in Fig. 9.

The machine shown comprises a base member 1 having brackets 2 and 3 mounted on opposite ends of the base member. The bracket 3 carries the means for supporting the knife, which means is substantially the same as that shown in the above-mentioned co-pending applications. The drive shaft 4 for the knife is rotatably mounted 86 at one end in the bearing 5 fitting in the boss 6 of the bracket 3, the opposite end of the drive shaft being mounted in a suitable bearing 7 on the bracket. 2. Referring more particularly to Fig. 1, it will be noted that the left-hand end of the drive shaft 4 has one arm of a U-shaped member 8 supported thereon and fastened thereto by means of a set screw 9 locked in place by the lock nut 10. The other arm of the U-shaped member 8 has a hollow bearing member 11 in which is rigidly mounted the sleeve 12 and this sleeve carries the bearings 13 and 14 for rotatably supporting the opposite ends of the shaft 15 which carries the knife 16 on one end thereof, the knife being suitably mounted so as to rotate with the shaft 15. A sprocket 17 is also rigidly fastened to the shaft 15 and this sprocket in turn is driven by means of a chain 18 trained over the sprocket 1'7 and a sprocket 19 which is adapted to be rotated with the shaft 20 rotatably mounted in a bearing 21 supported on a projection 22 of thecasing 23 which, in turn, is mounted on the bracket 3 and is adapted to substantially enclose the knife and associated driving mechanism. While any means can be used to cause the sprocket 19 to rotate with the shaft 20, I prefer to use a pin 24 fitted in a suitable opening in the sprocket and in a corresponding aligned opening in the collar 25 integral with or rigidly fastened to the shaft 20. The bearing 21 supports the leftwardly from the hollow boss 11 and this shield is adapted to deflect the slices away from the slicing knife after the slices have been cut from the substance.

The left-hand end of the shaft 20 is adapted to project outside of the casing 23 and the projecting I portion thereof is provided with an arm 29 which pivotally supports a handle 36 at 31.1 The handle 39 is provided with a projecting lug 32 adapted to extend between opposed lugs 33 on the casing 23, when the parts are in the fullline position.

The lugs 32 and 33- areprovided with suitable openings which are alignedshown in Figs. 1 and 2.

when the parts are in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and a pin 34 is adapted to. extend therethrough to lock the handle in said position. A second lug 35 is provided on the handle 30 and this lug is adapted to align with an opening .in

the arm 29 when the handle is in the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, a pin 36 being adapted to extend through suitable openings in the arm 29 and through the opening 37 in the lug 35 while the handle is in this position, the lug 32 being disengaged from the lugs 33 in this position of the handle 30.

The casing 23 is provided with a cover member 38 carried by arms 39 pivoted to the lugs to rigid with the casing 23. A suitable handle 41 is provided for swinging the cover member 38 from the position shown to a position in which the knife is exposed through the opening in the casing 23 which is normally covered by the cover member 38. The knife sharpening device 42 carrying the grinders 43 and 4.4 can then be rotated about the pivot 45 into a position over the knife and lowered into engagement with the knife by; means of the operating lever 46 in a well-known manner.

Before the grinders are lowered into engagement with the knife, the knife is moved into the position shown in Fig. 1, and the shaft 4 is kept from rotating by means of a sliding bolt 4'? adapted to engage a suitabl recess in the fly wheel 43, the sliding bolt 4'7 being operated by a handle 49 rigid with the bolt 4'7. The bolt is slidable in the bearing 50 (Fig. 2) integral with the bracket 3 mounted on the bracket 2. The handle 39 is rotated into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 and locked in this position by means of the pin 36. With the grinders in contact with the knife through the opening in the casing, thehandle 30 can be used to rotate the shaft 20 and rotation of this shaft rotates the, sprocket l'l through the sprocket 19 and chain 18. When it is desired to use the machine for slicing purposes, the handle is locked in the full line position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and thebolt .47 is withdrawn by the handle 49 in order to permit the shaft 4to rotatet I The shaft 4 is rotated bymeans of. the motor 51 secured to the bracket 6 by suitable bolts52. A belt 53 is used to connect the pulley 54 on the rotor shaft 55 of the motor with the fiy-wheel 43. By rotating the motor, the shaft i is caused to rotate and this, in. turn, rotates the 'U shaped member 8 and the hollow bossllabout the bearing 21 as an axis, the bearing Zl-being concentric with the shaft 4. it will be noted that the shaft 20 is held stationary by reason of the fact-that the arm 29 rigidly connected thereto is kept:fromrro-- tation by the engagement of the lug 32 with the lugs 33. Since the sprocket 19 is rigid with the shaft 20, this sprocket will be kept from rotating about its own axis as the U-shaped member 8 rotates about the bearing 21. However, the sprocket 17 on the shaft 15 rotates eccentrically about the shaft 20 and sprocket, l9 and since the chain'18 connects the two sprockets 17 and 19, the former will be caused to rotate about its own axis due to the pull of the chain caused by the stationary sprocket l9. Rotation of the sprocket 17 imparts rotation to the knife 16 so that as the knife passes through the substance being sliced, thesamewill sever a slice therefrom. The rotation of the knife about its axis is in a direction opposite to the rotation of the U-shaped member 8 about'its axis so that while the knife is passing "through the substance being sliced, there are two opposing forces which tend to throw the slice away from the substance after it is cut therefrom. One forceis the force of the knife due to its rotationand this has a tendency to move the slice in the direction in which the edge of the knife which engages the slice, ismoving; the other force is the action which the shield 27 has on the slice as the same is cut from the substance and is engaged by said shield, the shield having a tendency to move the slice in a direction opposite to the movementgof the knife due to the fact that this shield is rigid with the U-shaped member 8 and, of course, is given the same direction of rotation as the u-shaped member. These opposite forces tend to neutralize each other and the slice will fall onto the conveyer 56, which will later be described. The conveyer for conveying the substance to a position where it can be sliced by the slicing knife is best illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 4, '7 and 8. This comprises a pair of chains 57 each of which is. trained over a sprocket such as the sprockets 58 and 59 mounted on the shafts 60 and 61 rot-atably' supported by the brackets 3 and 2, respectively, Thechains 5'? are driven in unison and have opposing links thereof connected by means of the slats 62 arranged in overlapping relation as best illustrated in Fig. 7. The slats 62 are supported by pins 63 on the lugs 64 extending outwardly from the links of, the chain, as seen in Fig. 8. t I l As will be noted from an inspection of Fig. ,7, the overlapping edges 65 of the slats provide projections extending toward the slicing knife and these projections provide means which engage the substance placed on the conveyer chain and conveythe substance toward the slicing knife, said projections having a tendency to dig into the substance on the lower side thereof. The upper runs of the chains 5'7 are adapted to move in the direction shown by the arrows in 1 and 2 and each of these chains is supported by plates 66 so that 1 the chain, and consequently, the slats 62, will not yield downwardly an appreciable amount when the substance is placed thereon and when-the substance is forced down against the slats by the means to-be described later.

l The bolts 67 are used to-fasten the plates 65 to same should be protected from the accumulation The of grease, dust, dirt and like foreign substances which would normally accumulate thereon if the same were not protected. The shields 69 perform this function very efficiently as it will be seen from an inspection of Fig. 8 that these shields not only extend over the chains but have a projection 71 which extends downwardly substantially into engagement with the upper surfaces of the slats 62, thereby shielding the pins 63 and also the lugs 64. Furthermore, by shielding the upper run of the chains in this manner, the operator is not liable to be injured by said chains.

The chains 5'? are also apt to have considerable lubricating grease thereon which may be used to enable the same to ride silently over the sprockets 58 and 59 and to keep the pivots for the links properly lubricated, and the shield 69 prevents the operator and the substance to be sliced from coming into contact with this grease. A guide plate 63 secured to the brackets 2 and 3 extends longitudinally of the machine above the plane of the slats 62, as best illustrated in Fig. 1, and this provides a means for guiding the substance as it is carried along toward the knife by means of the conveyer. Suitable means are provided for pressing the substance against the conveyer as the substance moves toward the slicknife. This means comprises a plurality of fingers '72 and 73, the fingers 72 forming one series of pressing members and the fingers 73 forming another series of pressing members. The fingers 72 are rotatably supported on the shaft '74 which is non-rotatarly mounted in-the bracket 75 fastened to the bracket 3. As is best illustrated in I Fig. 4, each of the fingers 72 has one end of an adjusting spring 76 rigidly fastened thereto, the other end being rigidly fastened to the stationary collar 77 on the shaft '74, and these springs are so wound that they tend to rotate the fingers 72 1 l in a counter-clockwise direction about the shaft 74:, as viewed in Fig. 1. An adjustable stop '78 is provided adjacent the upper portion '79 of each of the fingers '72 to limit the counter-clockwise rotation of the fingers.

The fingers 73 act in exactly the same manner as the fingers '12 but are supported on a bracket 89 which extends over the conveyer and is fastened by means of suitable fastening means 81 to the rear side rail 682a; best illustrated in Figs.

'i 1 and 2, suitabl springs, not shown, being used to rotate the fingers in the counter-clockwise direction and the stops 82 being adapted to limit th rotation of these fingers ina counter-clockwise direclion. The substance to be sliced is placed on the conveyer and as this substance passes beneath the fingers '73 and 72, the latter are rotated in a clockwise direction against the action of the springs as the springs tend to yieldingly urge the fingers 72 and 73 against the upper surface of the substance and thereby cause the forward ends 65 of the slats 62 to impress themselves into the lower surface of the substance. The lower curved ends of the fingers 72 permit the substance to ride freely therebeneath.

I will now proceed to describe the means for intermittently moving the conveyer. This means is'best illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 6, and comprises in general a mechanism operated from the shaft 4. The bracket 3 which has the integral bearing 50 also has a bearing 83 through which the bolt s4 extends and this bolt is adapted to rotatably sup-port the bell crank lever 85, said bell crank lever having an arm 86 and an arm 87 integral therewith. As will be best seen from Figs. 2 and 6, the arm 87 has a spring 88 attached to the free end thereof and to a yoke 89 carried by a bolt 90 adjustably mounted in the bracket 2 and held in place by suitable lock nuts 91. A roller 92 is rotatably mounted on the arm 87 midway between the free end of the arm and the opposite end thereof, as best illustrated in Fig. 6. The spring 88 always keeps the roller 92 in engagement with the cam surface 93 on the cam 9%. The cam 94 is preferably made as an integral part of the hub of the fly-wheel 48 but may be a separate member rigidly connected to the shaft 4.

The arm 86 carries a rod 9.5 extending outwardly therefrom and it Will be noted that, as the arm 87 is rocked about the pivot 84 by means of the cam 94, the arm 86 and the rod 95 are also rocked about the pivot 84. Located substantially directly below the shaft 4 is a shaft 96. This shaft 96 has keyed thereto a suitable ratchet97 having the teeth 98 arranged ab ut its periphery.

An arm 99 is pivotally mounted on the shaft 96 and carries a pawl 100 pivoted thereto at 101. The pawl 100 is adapted to engage the teeth 98 of the ratchet and is provided with an extension 102 pivotally attached to the opposite arms of the yoke 103 at 104, as best illustrated in Figs. 1 and 6. The yoke 103 is form d on one end of the rod 105 which is pivotally connected at 106 to a member 107 slidable along the rod 95 and held in adjusted position relative thereto by means of the thumb-screw 108. A spring 109 normally urges the pawl 100 in a clockwise direction about the pivot 101 so that the pawl will normally tend to engage the teeth 98 on the ratchet 97.

The motion imparted to the rod 95 by means of the cam 94, roller 92 and arm 87, is transmitted to the rod 105 and this, in turn, tends to move the arm 99 about the shaft 96 first in one direction and then in the opposite direction. As the arm 99 is moved in a clockwise direction about shaft 96, the pawl 100 abuts against the teeth 98 and causes the ratchet to rotate in a clockwisedirection. As the arm 99 moves in a counterclockwise direction, the pawl 100 rides over the teeth 98 and the ratchet 97 remains stationary, a brake band 110 frictionally engaging a brake drum 111 on the ratchet 97 to prevent the ratchet from being rotated in a counter-clockwise direction due to any friction that might exist between the pawl 100 and surface of the teeth as the former rides over the latter. This brake band 110 is pivoted at 112 to a bracket 113 and the opposite end thereof has a bolt 114 rigidly fastened thereto and in prolongation thereof. This bolt 114 extends through the bracket 113 and carries a pair of lock nuts 115 against which the spring 116 is adapted to abut, the opposite end of this spring abutting against the bracket 113. The lock nuts are for the purpose of adjusting the tension in the spring 116, and, consequently, the pressure which the brake band 110 exerts on the brake drum 111. This brake band also has a tendency to prevent overrunning of the ratchet 97 in case the same is rotated rapidly by means of the pawl 100. Since it is desired to cause a feeding move- -I ment which is uniform, it is necessary to provide some means such as the brake band 110 for insuring that, not only will the full feed be imparted to the ratchet by the pawl 100, but that no more feed will be permitted and that the ratchet will not be permitted to rotate in a direction other than that in which it is rotated by the pawl 100.

The amount of feed given to the ratchet by the pawl 100 is regulated by the amount of movement imparted to the arm 99 by the rod 105. By

sliding the member 107 along the rod 95, the member 10! is given a varyingarnount of throw about the pivot 84, and, this, in turn, changes the amount of movement of the rod 165 and, consequently, the pawl 160 and ratchet 97. This type of feeding means permits the feeding of the substance over very small increments, as the member 10'? can be positioned at any selected position along the rod 95.

The feeding means which I have just described is adapted to drive the shaft 11'? through the intermediary of the clutch contained in the housing 118. This clutch is best illustrated in Fig.5 and comprises the clutch members 119 and 120. The clutch member'lZO has a worm wheel 121 integral with the peripheral surface thereof and this worm wheel is adapted to engage the worm 122 forming part of the shaft 96. The shaft 117 is provided with a reduced portion 123 and a shoulder 124 adjacent thereto. The clutch member 12:) is rotatably mounted on the reduced portion 123 andlongitudinal movement thereof on the reduced portion 123 is prevented by means of the shoulder 124 and the co'ilar 125 held in place on the reduced portion 123 by the screws 126. A spring 127 is arranged in a groove in the periphery of the cellar 125 over the screws 126 to prevent the accidental displacement thereof.

The clutch member 119 has a pin 123 extending through an opening 129 in the shaft 11'? so that when the clutch member 119 is rotated, the same will impart rotation to the shaft 117 by means of the pin 128 engaging the sides of theopening 129. The clutch members 119 and 120 are normal- 1y urged into engagement with each other by means of the spring 130 abutting against a shoulder 131 adapted to rotate with the shaft 117, and the shoulder 132 on the clutch member 119. One end of the shaft 117 is rotatably mounted in the bearing 133 and the opposite end thereof is rotatably supported by means of the bearing 134, lock nuts 135 being adapted to hold the shaft 117 against longitudinal displacement in one direction relative to the housing 118 and the hub 136 of the sprocket137 preventinglongitudinal movement of the shaft in the opposite direction relative to the housing 118. The right-hand end of the shaft 117 is bored to slidably receivethe pin 138. A capv member 139 holds the bearing 134 in place and also provides a housing for the end of the shaft 117. The cap 139 also carries a screw-threaded portion 140, and a pin14l screwthreaded through the outer'surface of a second cap 142 into the interior thereof, is adapted'to engage the screw-threads of the screw-threaded portion 140. A handle 143 is also mounted on the cap 142 and the cap is also provided with an ad-' justing screw 144 locked in place by the lock nut 145. It will be seen on an inspection of Fig. 5, that by rotating the cap 142 in a clockwise direction (the screw threads on the screw-threaded portion 140 being right-hand thread), the cap will be caused to move toward the left and the adjusting screw 144 will abut against the pin 138 and force the same to the left and into engage-1 ment with the pin 123. Further movement of the pin 138 to the left will move the pin 128. in the same direction and this, in turn, moves the clutch member 119 out of engagement with the clutch member 126, thereby disconnecting the drive from the shaft 96 to the shaft 117-. r y

By this means, therefore, it will be seen that whenever it is desired to stop the rotation of the sprocket 137 while the shaft 96 is given its intermittent rotation by means of the cam 94 and the intermediateconnections, it is only necessary to rotate the handle 143 in a clockwise direction to disengage the clutch members from each other. Normally, however, the intermittent rotation imparted to the shaft 95 by the cam 94 is transmitted to the sprocket 13'? by means of the gears 122 and 121 and the clutch members 120 and 119.

The sprocket137 is connected by means of the chain 146 to a suitable sprocket 147 on the shaft 61 (seeFigs. 2 and 3). Thus, the intermittent movement imparted to the sprocket 137 by the means described, is imparted to the shaft 61 which, in turn, imparts an intermittent movement to the conveyer chain 57 through the sprockets 59 mounted on the shaft 61. The substance to be sliced is placed upon the conveyer and moved to the left, as viewed in Fig. l, toward the knife after each successive slice is cut from the substance by the slicing knife, the substance being carried onto the support 148 after it leaves the conveyer so as to form a firm support for that end of the substance from which the slices are to be out. It will be noted that the cam 94 is so arranged with respect to the shaft 4 that the feeding movements will occur during the time when the slicing knife is not in a position to slice the substance arranged on the conveyer. After the shoes have been cut from the substance, the same fall onto the conveyer 56. The support 148 is provided with a slot 14'? adapted to receive the knife edge when the latter moves to its lowermost position.

This conveyer 56 comprises a plurality of chains 149 supported at one end by means of the sprockets 15) mounted on the shaft 151 and at the other end by suitable sprockets, not shown, mounted on a suitable shaft, not shown, said last-mentioned sprockets and shaft being arranged similar to the sprockets 150 and the shaft 151, respectively, or as in the aforesaid copending applications. Suitable guard plates 152 are arranged over the chains in a manner similar to the way in which the guard plates 69 are arranged over the chains 5'7. The chains 149 have the slats-153 supported therebetween and connected to opposing links in a manner similar to the way in which the slats 62 are connected to thelinks of the chain 57, or in any other desirable manner; Howeventhe slats 153 are not arranged in overlapping relation as it is desired that the supporting surface be substantially flat. The shaft 151 is also provided with a sprocket 154 at the rear end thereof and this sprocket has a chain 155 trained thereover and over a sprocket 156 onthe shaft 157 of the reduction gearing 158. The reduction gearing 158 is of a well-known type and is driven by means of a belt 159 trained over opposing pulleys of the step-cone pulleys 160 and 161, the former step-cone pulley being driven by means of a chain 162 within the casing 163 and trained over the sprockets 164 and 165 on the shaft 4 and the shaft 166 which supports the cone pulleys 160, respectively. Since the shaft 4 is continuously rotating, this continuous rotation will be imparted to the conveyer 56 through the connections just described only at a reduced speed. The speed at which the conveyer 56 is driven may be regulated by shifting the belt 159 to other of the pulleys on the step-cone pulleys 160 and 161. In this way, the speed of movement of the slicing conveyor can be regulated independently of the speed of movement of the substance moving conveyor whereby a more efficient stacking of the slices will result. The amount of overlapping ofthe slices and the thickness of ""10, comprises a pair of conveyer chains 57' havthe slices are two factors which enter into the proper stacking of the slices on the slice receiving conveyor. Therefore, it is desirable'to vary the speed of movement of each of the conveyors in-v dependently of the other of the conveyors.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The substance to be sliced is placed upon the right-hand portion of the conveyer, as viewed in Fig. 1, and is carried beneath the springpressed fingers 73 and 72 onto the supporting ledge 148, the conveyer being given an intermittent motion by means of the cam 94 and connections to the ratchet 9,7 and to the sprocket 137 which drives the shaft 61 by means of the chain 146. At the same time, the shaft 4 rotates the U-shaped member 8 and carries the knife into engagement with the substance supported on the ledge 148, thereby cutting a slice from said substance, the knife moving about its pivot in a direction opposite to the rotation of the U-shaped member about its pivot. The slices are deflected onto the conveyer by means of the deflector 2'7, the guard plate 167 preventing loose parts of the sliced substance from being thrown to the rear of the machine and acting generally as an operators safety guard against the revolving knife. As explained previously, the opposite actions of the shield 2'7 and knife 16 tend to neutralize the eifect which they have upon the slice cut from .the substance and throw the slice onto the conveyer 56 in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of movement of the knife.

The shield prevents any substantial portion of the slice from engaging the knife and therefore the movement of the knife does not cause any substantial movement of the slice in the direction of knife movement which would otherwise occur if a substantial amount of the slice were engaged by the knife.

As each slice is thrown onto the conveyer 56, it falls in overlapping relationship to the previous slice cut from the substance. However, it is not necessary that they fall in overlapping relation as it is possible for them to fall in spaced relation to each other if the speed of the conveyer 56 is such as to move the slices a distance greater than the width of the slice before the next succeeding slice is deposited upon the conveyer. The clutch handle 143 is used to throw the clutch members 119 and 120 out of engagement with each other and thus stop the movement of the conveyer for the substance to be sliced without in any manner affecting the movement of the knife and without afiecting the timed relation between the movement of the conveyor and the movement of the knife when the clutch members are again thrown into engagement with each other.

In Figs. 9 and 10, I have shown a modified form of conveyor and a modified supporting plate --adjacent the cutting plane of the knife, either or both of which may be substituted for the corresponding elements shown in Figs. 1 to 8, inelusive.

The substance conveyer shown in Figs. 9 and ing links provided with outwardly extending lugs 64 which support the slats 62 by means of connecting pins 63, the slats 62 having their up- In orveyer the slats 62' are provided with upstanding prongs 65' which penetrate the substance when the substance placed thereon, the pressure of fingers 72 and 73 (Fig. 1) acting to increase the 65 past the plate 148.

penetration and prevent disengagement of the prongs from the substance.

The supporting plate 148 is provided with an opening 148for the reception of the knife and slots 148" to permit the passage of the prongs As with the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 8, inclusive, the slices fall onto the conveyer 56 and are conveyed away thereby.

It will be understood, of course, that the dimensions of either the plate 148 or 148' may be varied, if desired, and that the conveyer 56 may be arranged close to the cutting plane of the knife as in Fig. 1 or farther away therefrom as shown in Fig. 9. That portion of the plates 1&8 or 148' between the knife and the conveyer 56 may in some instances be dispensed with. The main purpose of this portion of the plate 148 or 148 is to prevent the slices from falling down between the two conveyers after the slices are out.

It will be further understood that the machine disclosed is also capable of slicing bread and similar substances and I therefore do not wish to limit the scope of my invention, as set forth in the claims, to a machine used solely for slicing bacon or other meat.

In the copending applications Serial No. 332,525, Serial No. 332,790 and Serial No. 431,755, slicing machines of a similar type are disclosed, the broad invention relating to common subject matter of this application and aforementioned copending applications being claimed in application Serial No. 332,525. These copending applications are also assigned to the present assignee.

Obviously those skilled in the art may make various changes in the details and. arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the claims hereto appended, and I therefore do not wish to be restricted to the precise construction herein disclosed.

Having thus fully disclosed an embodiment of my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A slicing machine comprising an arm rotatable about an axis, a slicing knife carried by said arm, a conveyer, means for imparting a step by step movement to said conveyer, and means for pressing the substance adapted to be supported on said conveyer against said conveyer, said conveyer comprising a plurality of slats arranged. in overlapping relation to each other to form substance engaging abutments for causing said substance to move with said conveyer.

2. In a slicing machine the combination with a slicing knife, of a conveyer for moving the substance to-be sliced toward the cutting plane of said knife, said conveyer having the supporting surface thereof formed by a plurality of ribs extending in a direction perpendicular to the direction in which the conveyer moves, each of said ribs having the side thereof toward the cutting plane of said knife arranged substantially perpendicular to the direction of movement of said conveyer and being substantially contiguous with the next preceding to form an abutment surface for moving the substance toward the cutting plane of the knife, and means arranged above said conveyer for forcing a sub stance to be sliced firmly against said ribs so that said ribs are pressed into the under side of the substance and act against portions of the sub-- stance to move the substance toward the cutting plane of the knife.

3. A slicing machine comprising a slicing knife rotatable along a closed path to periodically return the knife to slicing position, a conveyer,

comprising a plurality of slats arranged in over-v lapping relation to each other to form substance engaging abutments facing in the direction of 

